Sea Urchin
by Taranea
Summary: Short Story! Sonic is the worst swimmer in the world. But what about Shadow? Fifty years ago aboard the ARK one blonde girl WILL see to it that the Ultimate Lifeform learns to swim if it's the last thing she does...literally.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **Hi there! Well, welcome to another little spin-off story. As always, part of Life Could Have Been so Different, but also able to be read as a stand-alone. Set after Shadow getting his hover skates. The character Vincent in this story is the GUN commander from the Shadow the Hedgehog game as a child. In one of the cut scenes of the flash backs you can see him playing hide and seek with Maria. His and young Shadow's relationship is...strained...

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**Sea Urchin**

_by Taranea_

"I was told that I'd teach _you_, Maria...not _that_." The grey-haired boy pointed at Shadow with something akin to disgust.

"Vincent, you know Shadow is my _friend_, so please treat him as such. Please, can't you two be civil?" the blonde girl was resisting the urge to tear at her locks.

"I didn't _ask _for this, human. Personally, I think you couldn't teach a carrot how to be orange," the only non-human in the room stated, his black and red-furred arms crossed in defiance.

"Did you ever want to learn what _drowning_ feels like, furball?! Cause if I hear one more insult-!"

"Oh SHUT it, the both of you!"

The swimming lessons were off to a great start.

The three children - Vincent, wannabe-soldier son of the GUN commander and love-smitten with Maria, the genius grandchild of world-reknowned Professor Gerald Robotnik and finally, Shadow, ticked-off Ultimate Lifeform and first member of the Vincent Hate Club - were standing on the edge of the ARK's pool in various stages of undressing. It was a bare room, just equipped with two benches on the side, hooks in the wall for towels and clothing, and a wide window of black, star-dotted space above the rectangle of azure water. Now both of the boys looked at Maria slightly wary after her uncharacteristic outburst. The girl put both of her hands on her small hip.

"Right. Thank you both for listening. Okay. Vincent, grandpa wanted Shadow and me to learn how to swim and you were selected as teacher. ("In a glorious moment of mental instability on the Professor's side, no doubt," Shadow threw in quietly at this, but was quickly silenced by one of Maria's Stern Glances). Now, teachers first and foremost need _patience_. No nitpicking on Shadow for any reason. Please treat him with the same respect as you treat me," the blonde girl said, the grey-haired boy looking everywhere but at her or the smirking black hedgehog. Shadow's grin soon dropped, however, as soon as Maria turned on him.

"As for you, Shadow, Vincent is sacrificing part of his time here for us. I'm thirteen years old. I should know how to swim by now, but I've been up here since I was six and was never strong enough before, so I really appreciate this opportunity. Please make it a nice time for me by listening to Vincent, not complaining and try your hardest." Facing both of the males, Maria finally put on her characteristic kind smile again.

"Is that alright for you two?"

"Hmph."

"Grmph."

Sometimes it wasn't easy keeping that smile going. But Maria knew that Vincent and Shadow were about the only people her age up here, and even if she felt like hitting them whenever they were together, she guessed this was as good as it got.

_Oh, how I wish I had some girlfriends_.

To be continued..._this week_! :P

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Hiya! Well, I'm glad to be back. Updates should be weekly again and to celebrate this, we'll start it off with this little short story in rapid-fire mini-installments! Please enjoy...and review? ;)


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: H2O 101**

"This water is cold."

"Shush."

Maria and Shadow were now standing side-by-side in the pool, watching Vincent walk into the deeper end. Well...for Shadow, actually, there _was_ no deeper end. While the water only reached Maria's waist by now, the one-and-a-half year old hedgehog already had half of his chest underwater.

"And my fur patch is getting soaked." The Ultimate Lifeform now looked downright miserable.

"My eternal condolescences."

"Okay! You guys watch me now!" from where the water reached up to his neck, Vincent waved over at the pair. He was now wearing only a pair of old GUN military boardshorts that were too big for him and balancing on one foot. Then, he threw himself forward and started moving his arms and legs in a very odd manner.

"What the _hell_ is he doing?" muttered Shadow.

"Shh. Its called a breaststroke."

"Yeah, right. He looks like a giant pink frog."

"Shadow, if you re not more cooperative by the second, I _swear_ I will-"

"Hey! Maria, please don't let him distract you, he's not worth it!" Vincent suddenly called over, an annoyed scowl fixed on Shadow.

"No, he hasn't distracted me, he-"

"Vincent's probably peed in the water," Shadow mumbled at this point and Maria immediately had to snort.

"He _has_ been distracting you!"

"No, we have watched you, really. Thanks for doing this. You think I should try now?" Trying to save this venture from becoming a complete disaster, she tried to quickly straighten her expression.

"Well...okay." Vincent's tone was now slightly more pacified. "If you want to give it a go, I'll hold you in the water and you can try doing the movements," the boy explained, blushing only slightly as he now looked at the slender girl in her sky blue bikini. "You ready?"

"I think I should hold her. You'd probably drop your own nose if you could." Shadow stepped forward gingerly, trying to move in the unfamiliar element. Maria, sensing a familiar course of events coming up, quickly cut them both off.

"You can _both_ hold me, guys. How about that? Then I'll feel completely safe."

_Maybe I shouldn't become a scientist when I grow up. The training I get here is ample preparation for UN Peace management in a civil war zone_, she thought.

Both shooting venomous glances at each other, the boys nevertheless stepped closer to her, until they could both balance the light girl on her belly on their arms. Maria started moving her limbs in a clumsy imitation of a breaststroke, with Vincent occasionally correcting her until her movements became smoother and more assured. Shadow silently questioned this whole idea - why would anyone even _want_ to move about in the water when there was so much awesome ground to stand on? Then his eyes suddenly snapped into focus again, glaring at Vincent who'd just given him a sneak kick underwater.

Maria, meanwhile, was doing her best. She could feel the water moving beneath her, started to understand how it could be shifted by her arms and legs as her muscles were slowly getting used to the strain. Oblivious to her supporters, with a particularly powerful stroke she even eventually managed to break free of the four hands holding her. Almost gracefully she slid out into the open water, kicking and treading the liquid element until she had traversed the entire pool under her own power. Triumphantly, she grasped the edge and turned halfway to her friends back in the shallow.

"_I've done it_! Guys, I've done-!"

Her radiant smile turned into a deadpan stare, azure eyes half-lidded as the youngest member of the Robotnik family sighed deeply. But of course Vincent and Shadow, apparently trying to recreate the final sequel of Pirates of the Caribbean in the mother of all splashfights, didn't hear anything and merely continued yelling insults at each other, doubting the intelligence, sanity, hygiene (and sometimes purity of lineage) of their opponent.

It came as quite a surprise to them when Maria divebombed and doused them both.

"Right." The girl faced both of her friends that now looked like drenched sheep, "I think we should take a break."

"I don't get why you should want to learn to swim at all," Shadow mumbled as the trio was walking along the pool to the end where their towels were, "You have lots of stable ground to live on so why-?"

"Well, just because something like _this_ could happen, mongrel," Vincent remarked casually while walking, and pushed Shadow right in the deep end side of the pool.

_To be continued..._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: If At First You Don't Succeed… **

"Shadow!" Maria shrieked in horror, but it was already too late. Almost in slow-motion she could see the shock turn to fury in the Ultimate Lifeform's crimson eyes as he started falling towards the water, and then his thin striped arm shooting out towards his attacker. Black-furred fingers wrapped themselves tightly around Vincent's forearm, the boy gasping in surprise.

"Leggo!" The son of the Commander screamed in shock, trying to pull himself out of the hedgehog's grasp, but it was useless. As the pair teetered over the edge, Vincent realized he had had no idea just how heavy the Ultimate Lifeform was....or how strong.

The two bodies tumbled into the waiting waters of the pool, a tangle of pink and midnight limbs, splashing about as both of them struggled for air. Maria instantly realized that it was a lost battle. Shadow couldn't swim at all and was dragging Vincent down with him, clawing at the human with the strength of the desperate. Vincent had no idea how to deal with a panicking victim of drowning and was kicking at the hedgehog, thrashing underwater for non-existent air.

Maria was never sure whether the two boys had ever realized later that she had saved their lives in the seconds she took for racing towards the door and screaming her lungs out for help, but as soon as hedgehog and human were on land again, none of them looked particularly grateful. Unwilling to start a fight in front of two young GUN soldiers that had sprinted over and jumped into the pool to the rescue, they nevertheless glowered at each other.

"I'll never teach you a thing again, you animal. You tried to _drown_ me," Vincent scathed at the Ultimate Lifeform as they now sat far from the edge of the pool, wrapped in blankets and nursing three hot chocolates. Not that it would matter, anyway. Gerald had decreed that the first lesson should also be the last, after the little disaster scene just now.

"Be thankful I didn't go through with it, human. You would have deserved it, after pushing me. You're the most cowardly weakling I've ever seen," Shadow shot back, his cheeks still burning with humiliation.

Then again, Maria hugging him and warming him somewhat up again made things better immediately. He poked his tongue out at Vincent.

"I don't need swimming lessons, anyway. Unlike you, I got _friends_."

xxx

_Or so I thought, _shot through Shadow's head years later, the memory of these events still playing in his mind. Aloud he said:

"I can't believe we're doing this again."

"Oh, come on, cheer up. Look, I even got some swimming trunks for you!" Maria smiled at him, waving a pair of red swimmers with a yellow stripe down the side in his face.

"This does _not _make things better."

"_Please?_" Maria tried.

It was only one and a half years later that they were standing at the ARK's pool again, but things had changed. Vincent had not accompanied them this time (indeed, didn't even know they were there, since Shadow technically wasn't supposed to leave the lab) but the two once innocent children weren't the same anymore, either.

The black hedgehog currently glancing edgily at the water was easily an entire foot taller than the younger version of his memories, his voice both an octave deeper and his eyes now as hard as flint stone. _This_ Shadow had been imprisoned, abused and been tortured by GUN in the course of his training. He had learned how to take out entire battalions of battle mechs without a single weapon but his own body. He had understood both to fear and to depend on the power of Chaos that flowed through his nerves and veins. He had even tasted death when he had been forced into an experiment that resulted in him being instrumental in the killing of six innocent humans.

The one thing that had not changed in the least, however, is that he would happily perform circus tricks in a pit of rabid possums if Maria only asked him to.

"I'm doing this for you, Maria. I still think it's an inane idea."

"Thank you!" The blonde girl clapped her hands before tossing the red board shorts to him. "I'm quite a good swimmer by now, I'm sure I can teach you. And remember - about 70 percent of the Earth is covered in water, so it is really important that you know how to swim."

"Well, if 70 percent of the Earth is oceans, then why don't we wait until we're down there? I'd have lots of room to learn, right?" Shadow made a last, feeble attempt to get out of this situation, but Maria wouldn't have any of this.

"Not a chance, Mister. What if the ARK had to perform an emergency landing on Earth and we'd all fall into the sea? Now please get into the pool." She turned around, rummaging in a box that she'd brought with her. "I'll just get these floatation devi..._Shadow_. I _said_, get in the pool."

"What? I am in the pool," Shadow replied innocently, his eyes as wide and angelic that he almost made Maria laugh despite herself.

"Quit it. You're not _in_ the pool, you're above it. Hovering. Now you lose those skates or I lose my temper," she commanded jokingly, pointing towards the pile where Shadow had discarded his gloves, but not his famous jet shoes.

Inside, though, she was glad that Shadow still liked to play those little games with her, still was a bit of a kid despite what he'd been through. She herself had been forced to mature quickly, had fallen into depression while Shadow had been imprisoned and made to fight until he was a mere ragdoll with fiercely glaring eyes, had had to comfort him when he had blamed himself for the death of the scientists, had studied the theory of Chaos until late each night, hoping to be able to finally help her grandfather with his research. She was well aware that if she and Shadow had not been there for each other, neither of them would still be able to smile.

Shadow, meanwhile, was merely sighing as he glided over the water towards the edge of the pool. Underneath him, the liquid steamed and hissed where the searing heat of his power skates made it evaporate as he crossed the few metres toward the tiled floor. Maria thought he was probably the only ice skater who didn't need the water to be frozen first.

"Okay, come on in! It's warm, really." Maria waved her friend down the steps into the water. Shadow, wearing nothing but his power rings, the shiny red trunks, and an unhappy expression, eased himself into the liquid with his now characteristic scowl.

"No. It's cold. Just like back then. And my chest fur is getting soaked. Also just like back then."

"You're obsessed with that patch of yours, you know that? But what matters now is that we have to find a swimming style for you. Vincent showed you breastsroke back then, but there's also crawl, backstroke or even butterfly. You just have to find what comes natural to you."

"Hmm. How do feral hedgehogs swim? Like, the little brown ones on Earth?"

"Uhh...they drown. BUT!" Maria's hand shot out, grasping a hastily fleeing Shadow's shoulder in an iron crunch, "That doesn't have to be of any concern at all to you. Your anatomy is much more like a human, so you should be able to swim like one of us. Now get back here."

"I hate my life..."

"Hush. I have NIDS but I don't let that keep me from torturing my friends in swimming pools." Maria smiled at him. "I think you just need to become comfortable with water in general. Maybe learning 'Dead Man' first would be best. And stop looking for escape routes, it's not meant literally."

"Then what?" Shadow asked, privately thinking that there probably wasn't a single creature in existence that was less 'comfortable' with water than him.

"You just lie on the water on your back and relax, breathing slowly. It's very nice. Just make sure your back is arched and it's as easy as that."

"That'll never work."

"Just try it!"

Shadow did. Shortly afterwards, it had to be said that it was rather hard to fix somebody with an I-told-you-so stare from underwater, but Shadow managed it nonetheless.

"Oookay. You're lying on the ground underwater. Right. Well, at least that confirms grandpa's theories about your density."

"Maria, the _only_ 'density' I keep noticing in this rather futile exercise-" Shadow started, shaking water out of his ear after he had stood up again, before Maria interrupted him.

"No! I asked grandpa about this and he said that due to your artificially augmented bone and muscle structure you're heavier than your body build would suggest, so you have to amend your swimming style somewhat. With great power comes massive weight, or something like that."

"I think that's supposed to go different..." Shadow replied, frowning, but Maria interrupted him for the second time.

"No matter. But I think we should focus more on the actual swimming. Maybe try the breaststroke again?"

The next two hours were spent with a lot of splashing and even more frustration on the hedgehog's side. For some reason, swimming just wouldn't work for him. He tested all four of the styles that Maria had suggested, really tried watching and imitating her when she demonstrated, but the complex, unfamiliar coordinating was just too much for him. He had taken ages to learn how to simply walk, too, and was only ever enjoying moving about when he was wearing his skates. At the end, both girl and Ultimate Lifeform were similarly exhausted even if nothing had been truly accomplished.

"Right. Em. Maybe continue this at another time?" Maria asked, her expression faintly apologetic.

"Maybe." Shadow replied, just glad that this ordeal was finally over. He just wasn't cut out for swimming, and his movements didn't resemble a butterfly so much as a drowning caterpillar.

The two friends clambered out of the pool and were walking towards their towels again, Shadow privately happy that there was no Vincent to bother him and mentally already preparing himself for the battle exercises that would await him tomorrow, when he suddenly noticed a strange movement on Maria's part out of the corner of his eye.

The blonde girl had slipped. Wide-eyed, she tried to catch herself, stumbling backwards before Shadow could react. A scream choked in her throat as suddenly there was no more ground under her feet and she tumbled into the water headfirst.

"Maria!" Shadow rushed to the side of the pool in imitation of his friend one and a half years ago, kneeling on the edge. He was concerned but not yet panicking. Even if he didn't trust water as far as he could...erm..._throw_ it, Maria seemed to be comfortable enough in the stuff, right? She'd just be able to swim to the ladder.

"Sha-shadow!"

"What?!" Now the alarm bells in his head were not just ringing but playing out the ninth symphony. He had instantly recognized the edge of true fear in Maria's voice and his throat was constricting.

"My foot!" She flailed in the water, her head going under and above the surface like a mad buoy, "It - cramped! I can't_...help! Help_!" Water had rushed into her mouth at that last word and now she started coughing, simultaneously convulsing and spasming, all the while drifting further into the middle of the pool away from the ladder. The Ultimate Lifeform was staring horrified at the blue hell below him that was right now trying to claim his reason for living, the single person that mattered the most to him. The one he would die for.

Shadow leapt.

_To be continued..._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: Not Quite Baywatch**

"Maria! I'm coming for you! I'm coming!" Shadow yelled, unaware of how all around him the liquid was trying to suck him underwater, was soaking his pelt and making it heavy. His limbs were moving wildly, somehow managing to keep him above water even if Shadow was oblivious to what he was actually doing. All his attention was focused on the single tangle of limbs in the middle of the pool, the frail figure in the sky blue bikini fighting for her life and how it seemed to take ages and eternity to reach her...

A black-furred arm grabbed Maria's shoulder, Shadow yanking her upwards with all of his impressive strength. Instantly, the girl went limp in his grasp and stopped her mad thrashing, letting herself be dragged to the surface. Shadow was so glad he didn't have to go against her natural struggling that he didn't question his good luck. As soon as her head broke the surface and the hedgehog had started to pull her towards the ladder, all of his focus still on his precious cargo and any signs that she was okay, her head turned and she gave a relieved smile.

"Shadow...thank you."

"Maria..." the hedgehog managed to gasp in between gritted teeth as he was struggling to keep them both afloat, finally grabbing the first rung of the ladder. She took hold of one of the sides.

"You saved me!"

"Heh. Yeah. Do you believe me now when I say swimming pools are a bad place?" Shadow asked, panting as they were both hanging onto the ladder in the aftermath of the rescue.

"But why? Shadow, you were swimming after all!" Maria called to him, clambering up the ladder agilely, smiling down at her companion. Shadow followed her up the rungs somewhat more slowly, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Say...you aren't walking as if you just had a cramp in your foot." Shadow stated as they were both on firm ground again.

"Er..." Maria's expression turned shifty for just a moment. "Would you believe me if I started limping from now on really, really badly?"

"WHAT!"

"Hey, it worked, didn't it? You learnt how to swim! Which style did you chose after all?"

"I can't believe it." Shadow was strangling his towel at the moment, resisting the urge to push his faker of a friend into the pool again. But of course, in the face of Maria's smile all indignancy on his part immediately vanished. "Right. Topic swimming hereby closed. And _don't_ you believe I'll come to your rescue ever again if it's anything else but someone pointing a gun at your chest!"

Maria laughed.

...

_And still today late at night aboard the ARK, sometimes you can hear the water in the pool splashing. There, below the pale light of the unseeing moon and the stars, will be a small black figure moving in the water...eternally practicing the Dog Paddle. _

Fin

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Whee, finished! :D Bad news is I'm going travelling again, tho, this time to the Netherlands. GOOD news is I'll be back before the end of next week and you can all look forward to chapter 22 of Burning Arrow, Wildfire Heart! :D Can Sonic save Knuckles before the Guardian gets kidnapped by gargoyles? ;)

Meanwhile, hope you enjoyed this little short story here and thank you all so much for reading an reviewing!

--_Taranea, 15/8/09_


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